Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/IceTeaKing/Archive

05 December 2015

 * Suspected sockpuppets


 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
 * Editor interaction utility

A very peculiar set of single purpose accounts all interested in creating Mallzee. My antennae are twitching. At the very least I smell roast WP:DUCK. I suspect socks, proxy server, meats, WP:PAID. You may suspect more. I see sufficient evidence in the history of Mallzee to justify CheckUser, though your mileage may vary.

The article is one where I doubt it would have been created without something to 'push' it

If i have chosen the wrong sock master, I apologise. They seem to be much of a muchness to me. I've chosen to notify each of them. If they are innocent then they should come and defend themselves. Fiddle  Faddle  19:52, 5 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Comment post CheckUser Judging by the CheckUser results this seems to be the possible start of a nasty little problem. The simplest(!) outcome would look like the blanket reversion of all contributions by all of this tag team of accounts, but that may not be wholly acceptable. IT may not be neutrality per se that is the problem, but spam links in faux references. Fiddle   Faddle  08:58, 6 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Further thoughts are that they may be as some say that are, Students at "LIUC University" whatever that is, and it may be a rogue course that has escaped into the wild. One of the best ways of taming a rogue course is a mass block, which will get their attention, plus that of the course instructor. Since nothing is irreversible they can always appeal. Any bulk reversion that may be considered can come later.
 * The edits show more competence than I would anticipate from naive new students, though.
 * I believe CheckUser can track the IP used to the registered source? If it is an educational project that might give us a better clue. Fiddle   Faddle  09:03, 6 December 2015 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''
 * These appear to be students in a class. Unless someone points out a significant reason not to, after further discussion with the professor I'm going to unblock them all.  Some articles are not problematic (really, how non-neutral can an article about an actual island be?) while others don't follow NPOV perfectly but are written about notable subjects and arent G11-style blatantly promotional. Kevin Gorman (talk) 20:13, 6 December 2015 (UTC)
 * I believe I've managed to unblock these all, but there's always the chance I missed one or two. Kevin Gorman (talk) 16:53, 7 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Please note that the university the instructor claims to come from is currently advertising a late 15/early 16 class that involves editing Wikipedia. Kevin Gorman (talk)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - All are interested only in one and the same article. CU needed to compare them.  Vanjagenije  (talk)  22:40, 5 December 2015 (UTC)


 * The following accounts appear very to be related:


 * Looking at the contributions, it appears to be a paid editing/promotional organization issue. (Not necessarily operated by only one individual.) I would encourage the community to take a look at Life Electric, Mallzee, Staniel Cay, and Draft:Armodio (painter) to review the neutrality of the articles. Mike V • Talk 03:09, 6 December 2015 (UTC)
 * OK, I think that's all for now. Mike V • Talk 03:51, 6 December 2015 (UTC)
 * I hope you don't mind. I sorted these into alpha order. Please feel free to revert this edit. Fiddle   Faddle  08:51, 6 December 2015 (UTC)


 * All blocked and tagged. Closing the case.  Vanjagenije  (talk)  13:09, 6 December 2015 (UTC)
 * I've reviewed the checkuser data and while there is some overlap on multiple ranges, individuals who made multiple accounts, and a little bit of proxy use from some, I'm willing to extend some good faith here and trust the provided explanation. I would recommend keeping an eye on the accounts to help them follow our editing policies and work on their neutrality. Mike V • Talk 02:43, 8 December 2015 (UTC)